Chicago Sinfonietta recently announced that consultant Wendy Lewis has been engaged to serve as Interim CEO while the Board of Directors conducts a national search for a new CEO to replace outgoing CEO and President Blake-Anthony Johnson, whose departure was announced earlier in October. Ms. Lewis began her term with Chicago Sinfonietta on January 1, 2025.

Lewis is Founder and CEO of Wendy Lewis, LLC, a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion practice firm; the creator of AllySHIFT™, a progressive and seismic platform for advocacy and sustainable equity; and the Executive Producer of the award-winning documentary, “Beyond Their Years, The Incredible Legacies of Herb Carnegie and Buck O’Neil.”

Lewis formerly served as Global Chief Diversity Officer and VP of Community Engagement for McDonald’s. Prior to McDonald’s, Lewis served a trailblazing 30-year career with Major League Baseball, in which she became first-in-sports to lead HR and DEI roles and centralize both disciplines at the Club level with the Chicago Cubs and later as a league-wide practice.

“I’m honored to serve as the Interim CEO for Chicago Sinfonietta,” said Ms. Lewis. “I wholeheartedly believe in and support Chicago Sinfonietta’s mission of diversity and inclusion, and the role the orchestra plays in the Chicagoland community. As a Board Member intimately familiar with the Sinfonietta’s season, I look forward to stewarding the organization during this time of transition.

Loronda C. Giddens is an army veteran who worked as a corporate professional for over a decade before transitioning to state government, where she works as a Special Projects Manager with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.

Loronda went from training Fortune 500 corporations on financial services to becoming a P.O.S.T. Certified Instructor. She is a national conference speaker who educates on personal development, career development, financial wellness and youth empowerment.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in social science and a master’s degree in forensic psychology. In her spare time, she hosts an internationally syndicated podcast called, Peeling Back the Layers of Your Life®. She's a three-time, self-published author who writes to inspire others to step into their next level of greatness.

Cheryl Bristor-Wilson, LCSW, CADC, CEAP is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 30 years of experience working with families, children, and employees. She currently serves as the Clinical Director of a union-based employee assistance program in Chicago, Illinois.

Ms. Bristor-Wilson previously served as adjunct faculty with City Colleges of Chicago and maintains private practice, Y’anna Consultants and Training, specializing in training, mediation, and counseling.

She is the President of the Northern Illinois Employee Assistance Professionals Association (NIEAPA), where she provides leadership in advancing the employee assistance field and strengthens professional engagement across the region.

She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Psychology and Sociology from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

Throughout her career, Ms. Bristor-Wilson has delivered numerous training courses on topics including compassion fatigue, stress management, working with difficult people, and navigating multigenerational workplaces. With a dynamic presence, practical insight, and a signature blend of humor and real-world application, she doesn’t just present information, she equips audiences with tools they can immediately use to improve both their professional and personal lives.

Isabel Perez-Morina, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Advocate Program, Inc., a private, not-for-profit organization based in Florida that provides probation, diversion, DUI, domestic violence, behavioral health, and supportive services to court-ordered individuals, veterans, children, and families. She holds a doctorate in Clinical Forensic Psychology from Nova Southeastern University and has dedicated her career to strengthening community-based responses that promote public safety, family safety, accountability, treatment access, and well-being.

Dr. Perez-Morina’s work spans community supervision, probation and pretrial programming, court partnerships, behavioral health treatment, substance use services, peer recovery support, care coordination, and system reform. Under her leadership, Advocate Program has advanced integrated, person-centered approaches for justice-involved individuals, including multidisciplinary initiatives serving people with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and other complex needs.

Dr. Perez-Morina serves as Vice President of the American Probation and Parole Association and is a board member and Immediate Past-President of the Florida Association of Community Corrections. Through these roles, she contributes to state and national conversations on community corrections, behavioral health, leadership, and justice system innovation.

Sara Hemmeter has more than 25 years of experience leading systems change to improve outcomes for at-risk youth and families and currently serves as the Director of Juvenile Services for Cook County. In this role, she oversees the Juvenile Probation Department and the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, leading efforts to enhance public safety, strengthen youth outcomes, and improve system performance.

Prior to joining Cook County, Ms. Hemmeter spent more than 16 years with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), where she held several senior leadership positions, including Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Youth and Family Justice (DYFJ) and Senior Advisor for Juvenile Justice Programs. As Deputy Commissioner, she oversaw operations across three youth services program areas—Community-Based Alternatives, Detention Services, and Close to Home placements—managing a team of 10 Associate Commissioners. As Senior Advisor, she led initiatives focused on program development, racial equity, and restorative justice.

Ms. Hemmeter played a leadership role in several landmark juvenile justice reforms, including Close to Home, which returned youth from out-of-state placements to New York City, and Raise the Age, which increased the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18. She also led the implementation of evidence-based programs for at-risk youth that contributed to a 90% reduction in court petitions. In addition, she oversaw implementation of the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM), strengthening coordination between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Most recently, Ms. Hemmeter worked as an independent consultant, partnering with government agencies and nonprofit organizations across the country to design and implement system reforms that improve outcomes for vulnerable youth and families.

Prior to ACS, Ms. Hemmeter spent 10 years with The Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice, where she served as Assistant Attorney-in-Charge.

Ms. Hemmeter holds a Juris Doctor from the University at Buffalo School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History from The University of Texas at Austin.

With more than 27 years of experience in Cook County Juvenile Probation and Court Services, Melissa Spooner has built a distinguished career dedicated to advancing effective practices, strengthening juvenile systems, and supporting youth, families, and professionals across all levels of the organization. Throughout her career, she has served in a wide range of roles that have provided extensive experience in direct service, leadership, program development, policy, research, and system transformation.

Melissa currently serves as the Interim Chief Probation Officer for Cook County Juvenile Probation and as the statewide Region I Representative to the Illinois Probation and Court Services Association (IPCSA), where she works collaboratively with probation and detention professionals and stakeholders to support innovation, communication, and statewide advancement within the legal system.

Her experience includes direct engagement with youth and families in the community, supervision of teams serving adjudicated youth, implementation of specialized programs and alternatives to detention, and leadership in probation transformation initiatives. Melissa has also successfully developed and implemented specialized training curricula designed to equip probation officers and related personnel with practical tools to address the barriers and challenges faced by young people and families.

Delores M. Johnson currently serves as project coordinator for APPA. In this capacity, Delores works closely with the Executive Director on a variety of special projects and training initiatives.

Prior to coming to APPA, Ms. Johnson served as the director of operations of a YMCA of metropolitan Chicago jobs training program – designed to provide women with job skills that helped them move from welfare to work. After leaving the YMCA, Ms. Johnson joined the Cook County Adult Probation Department where she was the director of training responsible for planning, developing, and delivering training customized for all levels of staff. During her 27-year tenure, Ms. Johnson specialized in developing relevant, practical training delivery plans and curriculum for adult learners to address their personal and professional development needs. Ms. Johnson also served as the executive assistant to the chief probation officer, responsible for reviewing and developing policies, evaluating internal programs, developing performance appraisal tools, and making recommendations to improve day-to-day operations. Ms. Johnson was appointed by the Supreme Court of Illinois Judicial College Board of Trustees to serve as a member of Illinois Judicial College Committee on Probation Education.

Ms. Johnson is a graduate of DePaul University, having earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a secondary education teaching certificate. Ms. Johnson also holds a master’s degree in curriculum development from DePaul University.

As APPA’s project coordinator, Ms. Johnson aims to contribute to the association’s mission by completing projects that will inform members about best practices and emerging issues. Her goal is for these projects to advance members’ knowledge of community corrections and their overall professional development.